1. Technical Field
This invention relates to packaging dental products such as adhesives, composites, cements, etching gels, restoratives, sealants, and the like. In another aspect, this invention relates to cartridges for storage and delivery of such dental products. This invention also relates to packaged, premeasured dosage forms of such dental products.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cartridges for the storage and delivery of predetermined amounts of a dental material are known and described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,581,399, (Dragan) 3,595,439 (Newby et al.), 3,900,954 (Dragan), 4,391,590 (Dougherty), and 4,767,326 (Bennett et al.).
The cartridges described in Newby et al. are said to be made of polypropylene, polystyrene, or preferably polyethylene. The cartridges described in the other above-listed patents are said to be made of plastic materials without further description of the particular plastic used. Most current products, for example Prisma.TM.APH dental restorative material (L. D. Caulk) and Herculite.TM.XR dental restorative material (Kerr), are sold in cartridges made of nylon-6.